Esalen has always been on the edge. Famous for its natural hot springs and stunning locale on the face of the Pacific coastline, the institute has long been a world leader in alternative and experiential education. Such luminaries as Henry Miller, Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Hunter S. Thompson, and others have gathered there to develop their revolutionary ideas, transformative spiritual practices, and innovative art forms.

Jeffrey Kripal here recounts the spectacular history of Esalen and its birth in the American counterculture. Forged in the literary and mythical leanings of the Beat Generation, inspired in the lecture halls of Stanford by radical scholars of comparative religion, the institute was the remarkable brainchild of Michael Murphy and Richard Price. Set against the heady backdrop of California during the revolutionary 1960s, Esalen recounts in fascinating detail how these two maverick thinkers sought to fuse the spiritual revelations of the East with the scientific revolutions of the West, or to combine the very best elements of Zen Buddhism, Western alchemy, and Indian yoga—particularly in its Tantric forms—into a decidedly utopian vision that rejected the dogmas of conventional religion.

Since 1977, through our workshops and retreats, Omega has been a pioneer in exploring, teaching, and embracing new ideas. We have also had another mission: to create a peaceful oasis in a hurried world. To this end, we have made our campus a healing center, a place where you can relax, rejuvenate, and feel at home in the midst of nature's bounty and a community of warm, caring people.

The beauty of our gardens, lake, and rolling hills, the friendly staff, the wonderful food, and the facilities at our Wellness Center all support what people come to Omega to learn. Most of all, it is the sincerity and openness of everyone here that make Omega a place where you can find within yourself the courage to become a happier, healthier, and more spirited person.

Esalen is a non-profit organization that has been devoted to the exploration of human potential since the 1960's. Historical luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, Joan Baez, and countless others have gathered here to develop revolutionary ideas, transformative practices, and innovative art forms. Today Esalen is a retreat center where people live and work in a communal setting. Residents and guests participate in an incredible variety of alternative education and personal growth programs in subjects ranging from meditation to massage, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, art, music, and much more.

Esalen Institute, renowned for its healing natural hot springs, has long been recognized as a world leader in alternative and experiential education. Dramatically situated on the Big Sur cliffs over the Pacific Ocean, the sacred beauty of the land—clear air, pulsing sea, garden path and waterfall, steaming mineral water bubbling up from deep within the earth—is itself transformative. Now in its fifth decade, Esalen offers more than 500 public workshops and seminars a year, accenting personal growth and social change, in areas traditionally neglected by mainstream institutions. A non-profit educational foundation, Esalen is also known for its research initiatives, invitational conferences, residential work-study programs, and long-term internships. Part pioneering lab and college for alternative practices, magical restorative retreat, and creative think-tank for the emerging world culture, Esalen is dedicated to exploring work in the humanities and sciences that furthers the full realization of the human potential.

The IONS Retreat Center is a beautiful collection indoor and outdoor meeting spaces located on the IONS campus in Petaluma, California. Just 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Retreat Center is on 200 acres of beautiful rolling hills. It offers such gifts as pristine live oak woodlands, meandering hiking trails, and endless panoramic vistas of the California landscape

THE MISSION of The Ojai Foundation is to strengthen individuals, families and communities by teaching ways to listen and speak from the heart, to honor life's passages and to appreciate our connection with nature -- supporting the emergence of a compassionate, sustainable and peaceful world. Today we are challenged to address many urgent needs in our world: non-violence, sustainability, renewal of our kinship with the natural world, and a deep longing for a return to a tangible sense of community on a humane scale.